


sail through the changing

by writteninthesewalls



Category: SKAM (Norway)
Genre: Alternate Universe - 13 Going On 30 Fusion, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Childhood Friends, F/M, Friends to Lovers, I will add tags as the story goes, M/M, Minor Character Death, Slow Burn, rating might change while writing because of the things i intend to write but we'll see, they were not born in 97 and 99 here they are both early 90's kids, time jumps
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:33:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24306736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writteninthesewalls/pseuds/writteninthesewalls
Summary: When Isak was eight, Even moved in next door. Soon enough, they became the greatest friends and they were unstoppable.Until there is a party that goes unbelievably not as planned and with some wishing dust that was supposed to be a joke, Isak gets everything he’s ever wanted.Even if that costs him his most valuable friendship.
Relationships: Emma W. Larzen/Isak Valtersen, Even Bech Næsheim/Isak Valtersen, Even Bech Næsheim/Sonja (SKAM), Isak Valtersen/Original Character(s), Julian Dahl/Isak Valtersen
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	1. the one with the new neighbor

**Author's Note:**

> hello! so this is a 13 going on 30 inspired AU. i love this movie and the concept seemed nice, so here it is. i should say something about this work though:  
> \- their childhood is set in the early 2000s, so forget when they were canonically born. in this work, Even (and his friends) were born in 1990 and Isak (and his friends) are ‘92 kids.  
> \- all pop culture mentioned is gonna be as accurate as i could think of/search for. i’m sorry for any inaccuracies.  
> \- also 13 is not gonna be the age where everything changes and it will make sense when it comes to it.  
> \- the present part of this fic is set in 2022, but we pretend it's all like 2020 (but ignoring mrs rona).  
> \- i’m not norwegian nor have ever been to norway, so all i write about it comes from mrs google. i’m sorry fellow norwegians for any inaccuracies (but feel free to let me know if it’s too wrong!).  
> \- in the first chapters, there’s some time jumps but that will eventually stop.  
> \- this is a wip for the second [skam weeks](https://twitter.com/skamweeks) (check it out the other works too!)  
> hope you enjoy!

_July 2000_

It’s a nice summer afternoon. There are a lot of people in the parks, he can see from his seat in the car that they’re enjoying themselves in their daily activities, knowing the days are long and the nights are short, so everyone tries to be busy so they can get a good amount of sleep.

Well, at least it’s what his mother tells him every time he asks why there are so many people jogging or playing outdoors during summer. She got used to his questions, her answers almost automatic and sounding a little bit annoyed, but Isak doesn’t really notice it. He just likes to question everything that’s happening and if he gets someone to answer, he’s happy with it.

It’s a nice summer afternoon. There are a lot of people on the streets, doing mundane things, but Isak’s interest is not on them anymore. It’s in the car parked next door to his house. It’s in the moving truck parked right behind it. His eyes fixated on the three people standing next to each other, waiting for the truck driver to reveal all their belongings.

“Mom, who are they?” Isak asks. One of his many, many questions.

His mother takes a quick glance over her shoulder as she’s coming to a stop at the front of their house. It seems like it’s the first time she notices those people, not even realizing she passed them as she drove by.

“Oh”, she starts once she turns the car off. “I heard your father mentioning we’d have new neighbors, I guess that’s them.”

“Can we say hello?” the young boy questions, his mother opening his door. They were on their way to their front door when Isak spoke again. “You always said it’s good manners to say hello and welcome new people, mom” and she can’t argue with that. She knows she did say that, but never expected her son to remember it right now. She only wanted him to always be polite to everyone.

“Sure, sweetheart, we can do that.”

Marianne notices how excited Isak gets when she holds one of his little hands. She feels his pulse quicken and his smile spreads all over his face. Isak looks up and his blond-gold and rather long hair shines as bright as the sun, the same shine that’s in his eyes.

They near the family that is now grabbing things either from their car or for the truck with help from the driver and another guy that Isak didn’t notice before. The approach is very shy, because neither Isak or Marianne want to bother them or get in their way; they don’t say that to each other, but it’s clear by the way they’re walking very slowly to get near the car.

Isak squeezes his mother’s hand and that’s when she sees what he was seeing. The woman in the family is trying to carry way too much stuff all at once and it would probably drop half the things because they were not aligned. With only one look, Marianne nods at her son and takes a step forward.

“Here, let me help you”, she says, with a smile on her face, while grabbing some box that was placed in the top of the pile the woman was carrying.

“Oh, thank you!” the woman replies, sounding genuinely grateful. She’s smiling too.

Now that Isak doesn’t have his mother’s hand to hold, he realizes he’s feeling a bit useless, and he lets out a sigh, which Marianne notices right away.

“It’s no problem”, she turns to the woman she’s helping, following to the front door of the house next to theirs. “Isak here saw you guys and wanted to see if you wanted help” and okay, it wasn’t 100% truth but she didn’t need to know that.

However, that sentence seems to get the attention of their new neighbor and she glances at Isak and smiles. “That’s so nice of you, Isak” and then she spots something over his shoulder, but before he can turn around and see what she’s looking at, she adds something else. “You can try and help our little Even to get some of his things from the car, is that okay with you?” and her voice is so soft and so gentle that Isak only nods and turns in the direction of where she was looking.

That’s the moment Isak knows his life changed. 

Well, he’s only eight years old. But you can know when something big is happening even if you’re just eight years old, right? At least that’s what Isak tells himself the moment he sees Even.

Even is a little taller than him. And he looks a bit older too. He also has blond hair, but his hair is so, so blond it’s almost white. And his eyes are blue. Blue like the sky. It’s Isak’s favorite color. Isak likes that. 

And Even is trying to get a box and a backpack out of the car, but failing at the task.

In that moment, Isak takes action. He steps closer to the car and grabs the other boy’s backpack, and without giving him a chance to protest, he places it over his shoulders.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Even says, a little astonished.

Isak can’t help but be a little disappointed that Even didn’t notice his presence as much or as fast as he noticed him.

Isak is only eight years old. But he knew the moment he saw Even that they were gonna be the greatest friends ever. He didn’t know _why_ he knew this, but he did and he had never been so sure of something his entire little life. 

“I’m helping you move in, neighbor” Isak simply responds to Even, smiling. “I’m Isak, by the way.”

Even is a bit taken aback, but quickly grabs the box in his hands and starts walking towards the now open front door. “Even” he tells him, and then they’re inside Even’s new house. 

And it’s messy. Boxes everywhere. Just like moving day should be.

“Even, honey, get your things to your room” they hear Even’s mom say from across the room, when Even was about to put down the box he was carrying. He looks at Isak over his shoulder and gestures to the staircase on their left. Isak follows Even upstairs and to Even’s room.

It’s a nice room. Very, very different from Isak’s. Okay, fair enough. There’s boxes everywhere because of the move, but what Isak think it’s the most different thing it’s the bed.

It’s a bunk bed. 

But Isak didn’t see any other kid downstairs.

“Do you have a sibling?” As simple as that, the questions starts. Isak knows his mother would tell him to keep it to himself. It was way too early to bother the new neighbor with his interrogatory. They barely knew each other. But Isak couldn’t help it. He wanted to know more about Even right away.

Even turns to him after putting the box he was carrying on the floor, a confused look on his face. Isak points with his head to the bed and the other boy’s face lightens and a grin spreads over his lips.

“No, I don’t. I’m an only child.”

“Why the bunk bed?” It’s Isak’s turn to be confused.

Even shrugs, smiling a bit wider now. “Why not? It’s fun and it looks nice, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, I think it does” Isak is being honest. He really does think it’s nice. And, in the back of his mind, he knows he wants to be the person to be able to share a bunk bed with his new neighbor.

“Thank you for helping me” Even brings Isak back to reality.

“It’s okay. Do you have more stuff? I can help, I’m strong” with that, Even laughs a little and Isak just feels like it’s Christmas morning, when his mother would wake him up with a soft knock on the door and tell him that cookies and presents were waiting for him downstairs. It was his favorite feeling ever. And Even laughing was just as good. If not better.

“Sure you are, Isak.” Even heads towards the door and then to the stairs, Isak following him like a puppy.

Once they’re outside, Isak sees their mothers chatting while grabbing some more boxes, another man with them, that Isak thinks it’s Even’s father, because of the same blue eyes. The kids both grab another box each and make their way back upstairs. They do that two more times and then Even just drops to the floor.

“I’m tired. I bet you are too,” Isak nods at the other boy. “You can sit down too, you know” so he does. “So, you live next door?” Even says after both of them let the silence fill the room for not even a minute.

“Yep” Isak says, excited. No one ever asks him questions. Not questions he wants to answer, anyway. Being the youngest in a house of four, no one wants or needs to question him on anything, because they all know so many more things than him. But then, there’s Even. Asking him things he wants to answer. And for the first time in his life, he doesn’t have a question to shoot back. That’s how excited he is.

“That’s cool. It’s nice to know someone neat lives next door” Even smiles at Isak, who can feel his cheeks getting a little red. “Are you an only child too?”

“Oh, no. I have a sister” Isak replies, as matter-of-factly. “I’m the youngest, she’s four years older than me.”

“And how old are you?” Isak couldn’t get enough of this. He thinks that the last time he was asked this many questions was when he did his homework all wrong because he fell asleep in class and didn’t understand a thing when it came to put it to use what he should’ve learned.

“I just turned eight,” and before Even can interrupt him, Isak gets bold and fires back a question. “And you?”

“I’m ten” Even states, proudly to be older than Isak. The younger boy just rolls his eyes at the response, getting, again, another laugh from Even.

“Why did you move here?” Even’s smile dropped so fast that Isak almost regretted asking him that.

The silence is back in the room, but this time isn’t as comfortable as before. It feels heavy and Isak notices Even looking at his hands in his lap and fiddling with his fingers, almost as if he’s avoiding to answer him. 

Isak is starting to feel awkward, as if he shouldn’t have asked that. He is about to open his mouth to apologize, to say it doesn’t matter and that if Even doesn’t want to tell him, it’s totally okay. But then, Even cuts him out before he can make a sound. “It’s my aunt”, Even starts, sighing and closing his eyes. He leans his head back to one of the boxes he had his back against and takes a couple of deep breaths.

Isak seems to understand that it isn’t the time to ask questions. His mother would’ve been proud of him, he’s sure of it.

“She’s sick”, Isak doesn’t know how much time passed until Even spoke again, but when he looks at him again, he is still leaning against the boxes, but his eyes are now opened, staring right at Isak.

“I’m sorry”, it’s Isak’s response, because he remembers his mother saying something similar when she heard someone was sick. And the tone Even was using didn’t sound like it was something that would change in the near future.

“Thanks, I guess” Even smiles a sad smile, the first one that doesn’t reach his eyes. “Do you want to know more about it?” Isak only nods. And waits. He sees and hears Even taking really deep breaths. He knows he shouldn’t push. So, he waits.

“It began last year. She was fine one day and then, out of nowhere, she wasn’t” his words are rushed and his voice is very low, like he doesn’t talk about that much. “She’s my mom’s younger sister. They have quite the age gap; she was as old as I am now when I was born. She’s my favorite person in the world and she always says I’m her favorite person too, so I guess you can say we’re pretty close”, Even stops again, closing his eyes once more. From the other side of the room, Isak can sense that it must be hard for Even.

And maybe because Isak is a kid and a stranger, he seems to be able to talk about it without anyone stopping him. And the younger boy is willing to let his new neighbor enjoy this moment as long as he needs.

“I don’t really know how to explain what she has. My mom cries every time she tries to explain to me, so I can’t tell you a lot, Isak” he pauses, and looks to the other boy to see him nodding once again, agreeing with whatever story he’s telling. “But mom thought it was best if we helped my grandparents being here in Oslo. June - that’s my aunt -, she lives with them. But sometimes it gets too much for them and they don’t know how to handle it” another pause. “At least that’s what my mom says.”

“Well, good thing she’s your favorite person, then, right?” Isak tries to lift up the mood a little and notices Even breaking out another sad and quick smile. “Now you’ll get to see her more often and maybe she’ll recover quickly”

“Yeah, that’s gonna be easier than the almost 7 hour drive from Trondheim” Even adds with a slight chuckle.

“Now you’ll be able to spend those 7 hours with her” Isak tries once again to cheer Even up. He’s determined to do that. He just doesn’t know _why_. “Her sickness is probably because she just misses you too much.”

That’s when they hear someone gasping from the door. The boys were so focused on each other they didn’t even realize their mothers were standing at the door, looking at them interacting and sharing some things not every ten and eight year old would be sharing.

The gasp came from Even’s mom, and she is subtling holding Isak’s mother’s wrist. You can see how surprised she is from the boys' talk, they both were, but Even’s mom looks very affected.

Isak looks at his mother, trying to ask just with his eyes if he had done or said something wrong, but she only shakes her head no and smiles somehow proudly at him.

Silence fills up the room once more and no one breaks it. Isak glances quickly back to Even and sees him staring at his mother, both of them with watery eyes. However, before Isak starts panicking again, Even’s mom breaks the silence.

“Isak, that’s such a nice thing to say” she tells him with a nice and warm smile. “I’m sure if June heard it, she would love it. I’ll make sure to tell her how us being closer to her might help her, right, Even?” Her son only nods in responde, like he can’t find words anymore.

“Isak, darling, let’s get home” Marianne says after half a minute of them just looking and smiling at each other. “I’m sure Sigrid, Jan and Even have a lot to unpack and they’re probably tired from the trip” she notices Sigrid about to interrupt and starts talking again. “I’m sure you and Even will have a lot of time to talk and get to know each other more, sweetheart. I’ll wait for you downstairs” putting her other hand in Sigrid’s hand in her wrist, she pulls slightly at the other woman and heads downstairs as she said.

Even is looking at his hands in his lap again, but this time he doesn't have his eyes closed or his head leaned back. He’s just staring at his hands as if they’re the most interesting thing in the world. Isak stands up and heads to the door, clearing his throat before speaking. “It was very nice to meet you, Even” he waits for the older boy's reaction. Even lifts his head and looks him in the eye for the smallest bit of fraction before looking down at his hands again. “I’m sure we’re gonna be good friends” he stops for another second, but this time Even doesn't look at him. “I can feel it in my gut” and that earns him a chuckle.

“I believe you” and for the first time in a while, Even smiles a sincere smile. “See you around, Isak.”

Isak takes that as his queue to leave and just waves goodbye before going down the stairs to meet his mom in the kitchen with Sigrid.

Both women stop talking the minute they notice Isak in the room and Sigrid has that warm smile in her face once more. “Isak, I’m very glad we got to meet you. You’re always welcome here. Even will enjoy the company before school starts, I know that.”

He can’t help but blush a little and nod at her words, because he doesn’t know what else to say. His mother can feel this and makes her goodbyes really quick, in no time they’re heading out and waving goodbye to Even’s dad.

Once they’re inside their house, Marianne abruptly leans down to her knees and hugs Isak so close he gasps. 

“Mom, I can’t breath”

“Oh dear, I’m so proud of you” Isak doesn’t know why, so he just hugs her back just as tightly.

Isak is only eight years old, but he knows that this nice summer afternoon was the one that everything changed in his life. This was the afternoon he got a new neighbor. This was the afternoon he decided he was gonna be best friends with this new neighbor. This was the afternoon his mother was proud of him. 

Isak might be only eight years old, but he knows when life changing events happen and this nice summer afternoon was one of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title is from landslide - fleetwood mac, and it fits quite nicely with this work!
> 
> thanks for taking some time to read it, i appreciated!  
> let me know what you're thinking :)
> 
> you can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/bibsrambles) and/or [tumblr](https://chillerhjemmesmiley.tumblr.com/)


	2. the one with the pool

_ August 2000 _

A few weeks have passed since Isak’s new neighbors moved in and he was always anxious to be able to play with Even. But his mother was always telling him it was not the right time and not elaborate when Isak shot back one of his insatiable questions.

The thing is, Isak really wants to be friends with Even. He thought they got along quite good when they first met. Even’s mom even said that he was always welcome there. So he wasn’t sure why his mother was telling him it was not the right time.

But after a few tries, asking her if he could go next door and ask Sigrid if Even could come out and play and getting always the same answer, he let it go. Maybe his mother knew something he didn’t, probably that Even didn’t really like and didn’t want to be friends with him.

So he let it go. It seemed like the right thing to do. 

Once again, it was a warm summer afternoon. School was about to start in three weeks or so. That meant that Isak still had some good days left to enjoy playing video games by himself, or trying to convince Lea to play with some of his action figures with him but ending up having to learn how to paint her nails because she was useless with her left hand.

It was a warm summer afternoon; Isak’s in the living room, playing Super Mario and then the doorbell rings. His mom storms out of the kitchen, heading straight to the door. Isak can hear some voices but he is just too focused on the game to care about whoever is at the door.

A few seconds later, his mother is back in the living room, a funny look on her face and she clears her throat to get his attention. He pauses the game, facing her with what he hoped to be a  _ mom, what do you want, let me finish my game please _ look.

“There’s someone at the door for you,” she simply said.

What? What does that mean?

Isak doesn’t know anyone that was spending their vacation in Oslo. Jonas was his only friend and he was traveling somewhere with his parents. Confused, he follows his mother back to the front door and he must admit he is a little shocked when he sees Even there with his own mother.

“Hi, Isak!” Sigrid greets him with a smile.

“Hi”, he only says back, voice filled with surprise. He looks up to his mom and she had a thin grin on her face, nodding very subtly at him.

“Hey, Isak”, Even mumbles, after receiving a little nudge from his mom. “I was wondering, uh” he stutters, “would you like to come over and play?”

“We have a pool”, Sigrid is fast to add. 

As if adding the fact that they had a pool would change Isak’s mind. Which, by the way, since the moment Even asked if he’d like to come over was screaming YES YES YES.

But his silence was probably misunderstood, so Marianne took the lead. “That would be great, wouldn’t it, son?”

“Oh”, he notices everyone’s eyes are at him. “Yes, of course” and then he smiles back at their neighbors.

As soon as he agrees to go next door, his mom invitates Sigrid and Even to come in while Isak heads upstairs so he can change to his pool clothes. It’s needless to say Isak almost trips over himself at how fast he runs to his room and searches for the swim trunks he got for his birthday.

In no time, Isak is back downstairs and is met with his mom excitedly talking with Even’s mom while he’s clearly nervous, his leg bouncing up and down while sitting on the couch next to Sigrid.

The women are chatting about something Isak doesn’t really care about when he sits beside Even and says a very quietly “Hi” and smiles at the older boy. Their moms soon resume their conversation, apparently arranging some dinner next weekend so both their husbands can meet and they can all hang out.

Isak then follows Even and Sigrid to their house. He didn’t go there after the day they moved, as his mother always told him not to bother them and that they were probably minding their own business. It’s safe to say how surprised he was to face a house without any boxes on the floor. It looked very neat. He likes it a lot.

“Ok, boys. I’ll go make you some snacks for when you’re done playing”, Sigrid tells them, turning to Even to add something else. “Even, you know the rules: no running inside the house and no getting back inside without drying yourselves if you go into the pool.”

“Yes, mom, I know” Even sighs. He glances to Isak and heads to the stairs. “Let’s go upstairs,” he said, climbing up to his room, Isak following right behind him.

In Even’s bedroom, where they last spoke, the boxes they were leaning into are in no sight. Instead, the bunk bed Isak first noticed is different. The bottom part now is a small white two-people sofa. There’s a shelf filled with some VHS tapes and a few DVDs. There’s also some movie posters and some picture frames taped to the walls. 

“It’s different,” Isak states the obvious, taking a look around.

“Yeah, well, I couldn’t live with all those boxes around for more than three days I think” Even humours him, making Isak laugh.

He sits down on the small sofa and gestures to Isak to sit beside him, which he complies. A comfortable silence, like the one they had when Isak first helped Even bringing boxes to his room, settles between them. None of them make any effort to talk about anything and it doesn’t really seem to matter.

Until Isak has the need to ask something, of course. “What were you doing this past few weeks that you couldn’t come out and play?”

Just like the question about Even’s family moving to Oslo, Even gets really quiet and it seems like he’s thinking hard about what to say to Isak. The younger boy is once again regretting asking something. He really should listen to his mother and stop being so nosy.

“Hm. It was my aunt,” the older boy’s voice is hesitant. “You remember I told you she was sick, right?” He looks at Isak and he nods. “Yeah, hm, so we were getting to know everything about her day-to-day routine, and when I say we, I mean my mom and my dad. Because I was just there with June, in her room, while she put some music on or was trying to decide what movie or tv show we should watch together.”

“Is that why you have so many VHS tapes and some DVDs?”

“It’s one of the reasons. June really likes movies and she has her favorite tv shows and her music taste is ok, I guess. But ever since I was little, every chance she had to get me a present, she would give me a VHS tape or DVD. Because when she helped mom and baby sitted me, she would put a movie on and she said I’d be quiet” Even chuckles, like he’s remembering him watching movies with his aunt, which is impossible, because, you know, he was a baby. “It’s our thing”

“It’s nice. I don’t think I’ve watched half of the movies you have here”

“We can make that happen” he responds, excited. “We can have some movie nights. Mom said June will spend some weekends with us. You could come over and we could have a movie night or something”

“Yeah, sounds nice” Isak agrees, because Even’s enthusiasm is endearing and he really seems to like the idea of having his aunt over.

Isak is curious why a young adult should come over and stay at her sister’s house, but he can only think it’s because she misses her nephew. Well, Isak barely knows Even and he kind of missed him for the days they didn’t talk, but he assigns that to missing Jonas and not having his friend around.

They decide it’s time to enjoy the sun while it’s out and have a good time at the pool.

Isak always wanted a pool at their house, but his dad always said it was too much to take care of, so they only had a green backyard where sometimes his dad would play football with him. Or where Lea would have her friends over and they would have picnics.

But now he had a friend who had a pool. Ok, not a friend yet. At least not both ways consider it that way. He only wishes Even thinks of him as a friend too.

Sigrid is already sitting in one of the poolside chairs, reading a book. She notices the boys approaching and tells them the snacks are ready for when they’re done playing.

Even jumps in the pool right away but Isak is a bit hesitant. What if he forgot how to swim? Is that something that can happen? It’s been a while since he last swam.

“C’mon, Isak, what are you waiting for?” Even asks, disappearing off the surface as soon as he speaks. Isak takes that as his queue and jumps into the water, still a bit wary.

Even is soon enough looking at him, swimming gracefully around him and all smiles. “Are you afraid of the water or something?”

“No!” Isak exclaims and moves a little but his hair is still dry because he doesn’t seem to be able to just dive into the water.

“So why are you so stiff? We should be having fun here, playing games in the pool, but you seem so tense I’m afraid you can even move”

Isak ignores the fact that Even is right, while the older boy just starts doing laps around the pool. He just stays at one corner, looking at how agile and skilled his neighbor is; which makes sense, since he probably swims whenever he can. And that makes Isak a little bit more unsure and afraid he’ll just embarrass himself if he tries to swim and doesn’t know how to anymore.

He’s wrapped in his bubble when Even approaches him with a concerned look in his face, frowning his eyebrows and pushing some of his wet hair out of his face. “Hey, I'm just kidding you know?” he asks and Isak only nods. “Do you not know how to swim? I can show you, if that’s the case.”

“No, it’s not that” sighing, because he knows he should just spill it out before it gets even more awkward. “It’s just… it’s been a while since I swam, I’m afraid I don’t know how to do it anymore.”

Even stares at him for half a minute before he breaks into laughter and Isak doesn’t know where he should hide himself, because he’s so embarrassed. He’s secretly wishing his mom would burst out of their neighbors’ door and tell him to go home right this second. And he would obey her in a second.

“I don’t think you can forget how to swim. It’s probably like riding a bike” Even stops and glances at Isak again. “It’s not something you forget easily.”

Isak wants to trust Even’s word so badly, because he’s been waiting to play with him for so long and he wants to be friends with him and he can’t let not knowing how to swim be the reason why their eminent friendship is doomed.

So he trusts Even and dips under water for only two or three seconds before he’s at the surface again, coughing a little and hearing Even chuckling somewhere near him.

“Well, if that’s what you were afraid of, I really don’t think you should try swimming” Even tells him, but his tone is teasing and Isak doesn’t take it to heart because he knows he is just joking and trying to ease up the mood.

“Shut up, I just got water in my throat” Isak defends himself, splashing water in Even’s direction.

“Yeah, yeah, you don’t need to lie to me, Isak.”

“I’m not!” Isak practically yells. “It went don’t the wrong way, I swear.”

He didn’t notice that while they had this little banter, Even was heading towards the middle of the pool and he was swiftly following him. He only notices this when he sees the older boy smiling smugly. “See, I told you you don’t forget how to swim”, and with that, he dives into the water again and when he comes back he challenges Isak to a race.

So, they race. And they splash each other with water occasionally. And they try to push each other down into the water. But the only thing that it’s constant no matter how they’re entertaining themselves is laughter. They laugh a lot and they joke around and by all means they bond, which was what Isak wanted to happen so badly.

By the time Sigrid calls them inside for a snack break, Isak’s belly is hurting from how much Even is making him laugh and from how much he’s having right now.

“Ok, mom, we’ll be inside in a second” Even responds and turns to Isak with another challenging smirk on his face. “For one last game… let’s see if your holding breath under water improved while we were playing.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I count down to one, we both dive in and the winner is who can stay under the longest” he looks at Isak for confirmation he understood and the younger one just nods. “Ok then” Even lifts one of his hands and signals a three with his fingers. “Three”, he puts one finger down, “two”, another finger down and Isak opens his mouth to gather all the air possible to see if he can beat Even in this game (because Even was always faster than him when they raced). “One!”

Both of them go under water and Isak does something he doesn’t really like doing and opens his eyes. He sees Even is doing the same and grinning at him. Even moves closer to Isak and with the same hand he was doing the countdown, he extends it and before Isak knows what’s happening, he touches Isak’s cheek.

It’s a brief and somehow soft touch, still it makes Isak frown and looks at Even with confusion, while the other boy just continues to grin wider. He doesn’t really stop there and with his other hand he reaches to one of Isak’s and soon enough, they’re holding hands. Under water. And Isak doesn’t understand anything. Because touches underwater aren’t supposed to feel this soft and this nice.

Before he can register what he is really doing, he lets go of Even’s hand and comes back to the surface, still trying to process what just happened. But Even doesn’t give him much time, for a second later he’s also on the surface, with the biggest smile Isak saw on his face today.

“Yes!” He chants, excited. “I won!”

“What?” Isak inquires, the frown still present. “No, you didn’t!”

Even starts laughing and circling Isak, meanwhile the younger boy just frowns at him. “What do you mean I didn’t? Of course I did! I stayed under the longest!”

“But you cheated” Isak’s tone is accusatory and it only makes Even laughs more.

“There’s no rules here, Isak. You have to accept that I’m better at this than you.”

“No way. I’m the master of holding my breath underwater”, Isak protests.

Even arches an eyebrow, the challenging look back on his face. “Oh, are you?” he pauses and lets the other boy just nod in agreement. “Ok, then. Show me. Let’s go again. On three?” Isak nods again and Even does the countdown one more time.

This time, Isak doesn’t hesitate to open his eyes. Even is already with his opened, a smile still on his lips. They just stare at each other for a couple of seconds and then Even’s voice saying  _ there’s no rules _ plays like a song on repeat in Isak's head.

So he does the only thing the can think of to payback of Even’s cheating way to win this little game. He swims closer and as fast as he can do this underwater, he touches Even’s cheek.

Instead of the shocked reaction he was expecting, Even just smiles at him and waits for Isak's next move, like he knows something else is coming. And he’s right. Because, yeah, it felt good when Even touched his cheek, it felt soft, it felt right. But Isak didn’t know that when he would do it, it would feel just as good, just as soft, just as right. 

So now he’s experimenting. He reaches for Even’s arms and as slowly as he can - and that’s probably due to his fear of what’s happening -, he slides his hand down until he’s met with his friend’s hand. Even wastes no time intertwining their fingers and looking down at their joined hands. Isak looks down too, and when his gaze is back up, Even has a soft look on, making Isak blush, which he didn’t even know it was possible underwater.

Suddenly, it was all too much for Isak. Emerging to the surface, he waits one second until Even is there with him, quickly letting go of his hand, but not before Even can give it a little squeeze.

Isak can practically see his confused and intrigued stare on Even’s blue eyes. He doesn’t really know how to feel now and Even is not making it easy, looking like he’s not bothered by any of that.

“See, I’m the true winner here”, Even tells him, grinning smugly. 

“How did you get good at holding your breath under water?” Isak asks, trying to deflect his train of thoughts from being more of a mess than they already seem to be.

“My grandparents have a pool at their house. June really likes swimming, so I guess I picked up her habit.”

“So, movies and swimming were your aunt’s influence?”

The answer Isak gets it’s just a shrug from Even, and before either of them can add anything, Sigrid is calling them inside again for the snacks.

They dry off before stepping inside the house and head for the kitchen, where, surprisingly, Isak’s mom is there too. “Hi, dear” he greets him and Even waves her a hello. “Did you have fun?”

“Yeah. The pool was really fun.” He tells her, sitting at one of the chairs near the table and getting a huff from his mother and a laugh from Sigrid.

“Sure is, but Isak sucks at holding his breath” Even chims in, teasing him. Isak looks at him baffled, opening his mouth to give a come back, however Even is faster than him. “Which means he’ll have to come over more often so he can get better at that. Is that okay?” He redirects the question not to his mom, but to Marianne.

She seems as shocked as Isak at Even’s words, “Yes, of course, darling” she replies, showing her perfect white teeth to the boy.

Isak then turns to look at Even, who’s sitting beside him, biting at his cheese toasting and trying to suppress a grin but failing miserably at it, having some bread crumbs falling off the corner of his mouth because of that.

If at the pool, Isak though he could see his confusion in Even’s blue eyes, now he’s pretty sure that his eyes work as mirror, as he can see him smiling as big as Even The same happiness in the older boy’s eyes he could notice before when they were playing around in the pool were the again. And he could sense it was all over his face too.

Isak was sure that from that day on, Even and him would be the greatest friends they could possibly be, just like he had wished when he first met him. Just like he wished when he had invited him over earlier. 

Maybe some wishes do come true after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if things are a bit slow until now. the next chapters more things than one day in their lives will be seen!  
> (also next update probably will be next week or so)
> 
> thanks for taking some time to read it, i appreciated!  
> let me know what you're thinking :)
> 
> you can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/bibsrambles) and/or [tumblr](https://chillerhjemmesmiley.tumblr.com/)


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